Chapter 3 - Handcuffs Under the ChandeliersBack inside the ballroom, total chaos had erupted.
"You're making a mistake!" Grant shouted, lunging forward, only to be blocked instantly by two military police officers who had slipped through the service doors behind Major Vance. "I demand to speak to the base commander! I play golf with General Harrison!"
"General Harrison recused himself from your file this morning, Mr. Caldwell, after reviewing the initial asset seizure," Major Vance said smoothly, snapping a pair of heavy steel handcuffs around Grant’s wrists. The metallic click echoed like a gunshot through the silent hall.
Sloane was in hysterics, her designer veil dragging on the floor as she grabbed her mother’s arm. "Mom! Do something! Look at my wedding! Everyone is looking at us! Make him go away!"
Marlene’s face had turned a pasty, sickly gray. The silver silk dress that had looked so majestic minutes ago now seemed like a shroud. She stared at the federal documents in Vance's hand, her eyes widening as she read the letterhead.
"This... this is impossible," Marlene whispered, her voice trembling. "Claire... Claire doesn't have the brain for this. She's just a junior officer. She lives in a barracks room!"
"Captain Claire Bennett is not a junior officer in logistics, Mrs. Caldwell," Major Vance corrected her loudly enough for every terrified guest to hear. "She is a decorated cyber-warfare specialist and senior investigator for the Department of Defense. And for the past twelve months, she has been building the federal case that is about to dismantle your husband's entire corporate empire."
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Vance stepped down from the stage, walking right past the rows of horrified guests. He stopped at my empty table, picked up my untouched champagne glass, and set it down neatly on a napkin.
"And by the way, Mrs. Caldwell," Vance added with a cold smirk, "your daughter didn't run away to pretend she was a soldier. She runs the unit that monitors your company's illegal offshore wire transfers."
